Archive for April, 2009

It has long been speculated that men and women perceive and approach wine differently.  Traditionally, the wine industry has been considered to be male dominant, with gentlemen assuming most of the roles as winemakers, executives, salesmen, collectors, etc.  Over the past decade or so, we have seen a shift in the industry: a larger number of high-profile, senior-level roles being assigned to strong, secure, and appropriately qualified women.  But how, if at all, do the changes that we have seen translate into the world of the female wine consumer?  Is the demographic of the average wine drinker changing on the front lines as well as behind the scene?

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Is there any wine that can rival the impact on the nose or palate of a young vintage Port?

The inky color, penetrating aromas, high alcohol and huge concentration are unrivaled in the world of wine. In days past, I might have included gripping tannins in that list of superlatives, but now I find that the emphasis on physiological ripeness means the tannins are much more supple, the wines’ grip less apparent.

Today a small group of Port producers gathered at the venerable Four Seasons restaurant in New York to preview their 2007 vintage for the trade and media. (There will also be presentations later this week in Dallas, Chicago and San Francisco.)

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I’m trying to swell the ranks of those who love the differences in each vintage, who abhor homogenization, who want wines that make them smile, think, laugh, and feel sexy. –Alice Feiring

Can you “feel” a wine? 

I have often tried to explain my own approach to professional tasting—I’m clinical, I’m systematic—I have to be. Imagine the overwhelming task of categorizing so many sensations without some type of consistent process. So I first deconstruct what’s in the glass without emotion—striving to create a sober map of its parts. But a skeleton needs blood and flesh to become human. 

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Our Tasting Director, Joe Czerwinski recently wrote a post entitled “Wine Critics in the Age of New Media” about the confluence of online tasters (bloggers, video tasting sites, community tasting portals) and the print media critics i.e. those who taste here at Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He discussed the fact that wine critics need to be aware of the new media and set themselves apart from the crowd. It raised a point for me, about tasting notes.

In my view, one of the reasons that people like Gary Vaynerchuk are so successful is because they use tasting notes that people can relate to. If you’ve seen any of his wacky TV spots on Ellen or Conan O’Brien when he eats dirt and sweaty gym socks to display common aromas of Burgundy, you will understand.

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If you’ve been a regular reader of my blog, you know that holidays with the in-laws don’t usually make my list of culinary highlights. This Easter was no different. But I did manage to squeeze in a decent bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape this weekend. The only problem with the 2004 Domaine de Cristia on Friday evening was that the car ride home must have been too warm, because when I first tried it the alcohol was rather noticeable (it’s labeled 15%).

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 How much faith do you put in the star rating system in Netflix? How much does it influence what movies you put on your queue? Better question: do you even look at those star ratings? Me neither. Same thing with the Amazon ratings of books and other products and the compiled wine ratings on web sites.

The Web has made it easy for great honkin’ zillions of people to rate products at the click of a few keys. Certain wine web sites like Snooth and Cellar Tracker encourage users to “rate this wine.” In theory, this is very cool and empowering. In practice, it’s vanilla.

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Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of hosting about ten boys (and three girls) for the ultimate wrestling event of the year: Wrestlemania 25. Yes, I know what some of you are thinking… are you serious?! Wrestling?! Indeed I am, and on top of that it is actually a tradition for my boyfriend and I to host such an annual gathering of machismo and testosterone laced with tiny hints of estrogen. Are all these people hardcore WWE fans? Not so much. But while Wrestlemania might be the excuse we use to gather our friends for a day, the thing that truly brings us all together (and our city dwelling friends out to the “country”) is the food and drink we serve.

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Australian wines have been taking a beating recently. Sales have been off, and the press has been all over the story, including such luminaries as Jancis Robinson and Eric Asimov. While I have no doubt that low-end Australian wines have made consumers wary of purchasing some of that country’s better stuff, I also think that many Australian wines can represent excellent value.

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With soccer and Little League starting up, the weekend pace picked up around our house. We managed to go the whole weekend without cooking at all (PB&J for lunch, doesn’t count as cooking, does it?). Instead, it was Friday night at our regular Mexican haunt, Saturday dinner at a nearby BBQ place and Sunday we tried out a new local Indian restaurant. So why no wine, or at least beer?

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Growing up with a surname that inevitably baffles everyone outside of Poland (I’ve learned to answer to pretty much anything at this point, including “Susan Kossserrrr, huh?”), I know how difficult names and words can frighten even the most worldly Americans.  Perhaps it’s fitting then that some of the wine regions I cover as a taster for Wine Enthusiast are grappling with the same issues I have since I can remember. Emerging areas such as Greece, Hungary and South Africa are keen to put themselves on the domestic map, but often the producer names and/or variety names are so strange or seemingly unknown to the average U.S drinker that they pause for a moment, consider adventure, and move on to grab a tried and true Cabernet or Merlot that doesn’t pose as much of a “risk.”

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